Four-Star Juco Commit Excited About Future

Jason Caldwell

05/12/2014

Auburn junior college cornerback commitment Tony Bridges talks about his busy spring, getting ready to play for the Tigers, and more.

Perkinston, Miss.--When cornerback Tony Bridges committed to the Auburn Tigers soon after signing day in February not many knew about the big and talented athlete from Mississippi Gulf Coast College. Three months later the secret is out.

In this day and age of bigger cornerbacks in the mold of guys like Richard Sherman, the 6-2, 190 Bridges is the prototypical future at the position. That has meant schools rolling through MGCCC in droves to get a look at the Bridges this spring with more offers coming every day.

"More teams have been coming in since I made the commitment," Bridges tells Inside The Auburn Tigers. "I had the regular schools that were already trying to talk to me and recently schools like Louisville and Missouri offered me as well."

Solidly committed to the Auburn Tigers, the four-star juco standout said he's excited about what the future holds on the Plains after getting a chance to see the product Gus Malzahn put on the field last fall and again this spring. With talented cornerbacks always a priority, he said that getting coached by Melvin Smith and becoming a better player is his goal when he arrives at Auburn in January.

"I see great things happening in the future and that's what I want to be part of," Bridges said. "I want to be part of a team like that with a great coaching staff. They are coaches I can build a relationship with and seem like coaches I want to be coached by. I have been blessed by a lot of good coaches and they seem like coaches I want to be around all the time."

Teammates with spring enrollees D'haquille Williams and Derrick Moncrief last season, Bridges said getting the chance to play with them again is one of the biggest pluses of his commitment to Auburn. In particular his relationship with Moncrief is an important one for him. A guy that served as one of his mentors last season, Bridges said he's ready to continue that role when he gets to Auburn next year.

"I talk to Derrick all the time," Bridges said. "He tells me what is going on and he keeps me tuned in to the things at Auburn. He's really excited about me joining him at there. He tells me all the time when I talk to him that the coaches are big on me and ready for me to come up there. He said he's ready for me to get up there too. It will be like old-times. He will be teaching me the ropes like he did my first year when he taught me the same things."

Planning on graduating in December and enrolling at Auburn in time to go through spring practice, Bridges won't have the opportunity to play basketball for Mississippi Gulf Coast like he did last season when he put up some good numbers in limited action. With his basketball career done he said it's full-time football for him.

"I'm just going to work on the little techniques that I need to improve," Bridges said. "My coaches tell me I can always improve that so that's what I'm working on. They tell me that if I can get my technique down then I have a chance to be great. I'm trying to plan that out and see what he's talking about. I think I can be great if I just work on the little things."